Title: How can startups create the conditions for a dominant position in the nascent industry of Electromobility 2.0?

Authors: Carole Donada; Jan Lepoutre

Addresses: Chair Armand Peugeot Essec Business School Av. Bernard Hirsch BP 50105, 95021 Cergy-Pontoise, France ' ESSEC Business School, Cergy Pontoise, 95021, France

Abstract: We are currently witnessing the re-introduction of electrical vehicles (EVs) into automobile markets. Interestingly, this re-introduction has come with the emergence of new players who are not traditional members of the auto industry and who aspire to be initiators, and then the dominant actors of a nascent Electromobility 2.0 industry. Among these new players, a number of startups have addressed the challenges involved in launching this new industry with the introduction of innovative business models. Some startups, such as Tesla Motors, are already on the path to success; others however, such as Better Place, have not succeeded in establishing the necessary conditions for their development. The goal of this research is to study how startups are establishing the conditions for achieving a dominant position in the nascent industry of Electromobility 2.0. In order to explore this, we will analyse the history of these two companies, Tesla Motors and Better Place, using the theoretical framework provided by Santos and Eisenhardt (2009) on achieving dominance in nascent industries.

Keywords: nascent industries; emerging industries; electromobility 2.0; Tesla Motors; Better Place; electric vehicles; automotive startups; automobile industry; business models.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2016.076444

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2016 Vol.16 No.1, pp.11 - 29

Received: 08 Sep 2015
Accepted: 02 Oct 2015
Published online: 09 May 2016 *

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